Laura Mulvey and her Theory...

Laura Mulvey is a theorist, best known for coining the term 'The Male Gaze'. This deals with how the audience view women from a heterosexual male's perspective. The term was coined by Laura Mulvey in 1975.


What is the gaze?

The concept of 'The Male Gaze' is how the people in a media text are presented by the audience. A feminist would look at this in 3 different ways:

1. How men look at women.
2. How women look at themselves.
3. How women look at other women.

There are several features of the 'Male Gaze' of how women are seen. For example, the camera may show a woman's bodily curves and they may wear very tight clothing or limited clothing, which would give the male gender a pleasure towards the good-looking women. Another big example is voyeurism, used in music video in particular, where women are seen as sexual objects towards men, whether it's an intra or extra-diegetic gaze. This can be shown through visuals or lyrics or both.

Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball

In Miley Cyrus' music video for 'Wrecking Ball', there is a heavy use of 'The Male Gaze' shown. I will talk about the use of these features through text and image. 

A clear example of the male gaze shown is when there are visuals of Miley Cyrus swinging on the wrecking ball. On the left hand side, we see Miley bare naked on the wrecking ball. On the right hand side, it's the same, but with limited clothing. This gives male an understanding of the 'voyeuristic' approach to Miley, showing that she is seen as a sexual object. The way she is seen swinging on the wrecking ball suggests a similarity to RODEO, which is considered, in majority, a male sport.
Another example is the shot when Miley Cyrus is seen licking a sledgehammer. Several high-angle shots are shown, which looks down on Miley Cyrus. This could ultimately suggest that the male audience are looking down on her, gaining pleasure from the sightings.

(Left) Another shot from the video shows a high-angle shot looking down on Miley. Once again, we see Miley in limited clothing, the majority of the viewing audience being male because of the way she presents herself to the gender. The shot is also a long shot, which gibes the audience the chance to 'eye Miley up'and see her in the flesh.

For me, Laura Mulvey's theory is very effective and I believe I can use this information when it's time to revise for exams.

Sven E Karlsson and his Theory.

Sven E Karlsson is a 'music video theorist' who states that any music video falls into one of two categories. They are:

• Performance.
• Conceptual.

Performance:

A performance music video, as stated by Sven E Karlsson is classified as a music video where the artist/s are singing/dancing in their video. Some examples of a performance video are

• Dance Performance.
• Song Performance.
• Instrumental Performance.

A clear example of this is the video for 'Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)' by Beyonce, which shows the main artist and two extra women dancing in the music video. There is no narrative behind the video, other than the idea of 'performance'. The music video is also an example of what Karlsson calls 'commercial exhibitionist', where the artist is made into a selling item, where people aspire to be like the artist. Here in this video, Beyonce clearly sells herself to the public, giving them a desire to be like her.

Another example of a 'performance video' is a 'Televised Bard', where there is a 'singing storyteller'. The performance of a 'Televised Bard' is not made to impress, but creates and shows in a form of 'audio-visual' imagery and the creation of poetry within images. Sometimes, the 'Bards' perform in their own video because the visuals are based around their dreams and unfulfilled wishes.

An example of a 'Televised bard' music video is 'Written in the Stars' by Tinie Tempah ft Eric Turner. Tinie Tempah states that the song is a passionate track about the sort of struggle that he had to face as a teenager. This song talks about his plans about performing at festivals and so he practices and starts to warm up, ready to perform to loads of people. The artists both feature in the video performing, alongside the narrative of the video.

Finally, an 'Electronic Shaman' where the performance and the artist is not seen, but instead we hear the lyrics. The artist embodies different characters and alter-egos in the form of an animation or cartoon. The voice of an 'electronic shaman' is matched with abstract video effects and maybe synthesized music.

An example of an 'Electronic Shaman' is the music video for 'Lollipop' by Mika. Here we can see that there are no visuals of the music artist, but only an animated performance of a girl, walking through a magical world of candy. All of the video is made up of just animated characters and a fiction-based setting, of which is not real in modern-day society.

Conceptual:

A 'Conceptual' music video is where the audience see other visuals that aim to have artistic ambition, rather than a music video, which features the artist/s telling a narrative. 

'La La La' by Naughty Boy ft Sam Smith is an example of a 'conceptual' music video, due to its presence of actors, starring and narrating the song, which doesn't include the vocalist Sam Smith. The music video clearly shows a narrative, which doesn't involve the artist, but the actors instead. We can apply Andrew Goodwin to this, where the lyric 'I'm covering my ears like a kid' is shown through visuals e.g. a kid putting his fingers in his ears to avoid talking to other people. The focus of the music video, therefore, is not on the artist, so there is no 'commercial exhibitionist' to sell this video.    

Post-Modernism

According to Wikipedia, the definition of the word 'post-modernism is'

'Postmodernism is a term that describes the postmodernist movement in the arts, its set of cultural tendencies and associated cultural movements. It is in general the era that follows Modernism. It frequently serves as an ambiguous overarching term for skeptical interpretation of culture, literature, art, philosophy, economics, architecture, fiction and literary criticism. 

Other information about 'Post-modernism' include:

• The era from the 1970's to the present day.
• The breakdown of barriers between genre and style.
• The breakdown of distinction between binary divides e.g. human and machine.
• Mixing up time, space and narrative.
• Emphasis of style over content.
• Blurring of fiction and reality/representation and the real.
• Becoming more use to a mediated version of reality, than reality itself (hyperreality).

As well as the facts about post-modernism, there are also some key terms of post-modernism, which I can relate to specific music videos. These are:

• Intertextuality - One Media text referring to another.

A good example of the use of 'intertextual references' is the music video for 'Bob Sinclar - Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now). The music video makes intertextual references throughout the whole video, most particularly, the 'Thriller' music video and the anti-gravity jumping and sliding scene from the music video for 'Cry Me a River' by Justin Timberlake. 

• Parody - Mocking a form of art in an original way.

The most common uses of parody in music videos comes from the artist Weird Al Yankovic, who is most known for his mockery to big pop songs. 

A particular example is 'Eat it' by Weird Al Yankovic. The video is constructed as a frame-by-frame to the Michael Jackson video for 'Beat it', but in a more humorous and absurd approach. Other mockery music videos include Nicolas Cage's remake of 'Wrecking Ball' by Miley Cyrus and Bart Baker's remake of 'California Gurls' entitled 'California Boys'.

• Pastiche - An artistic work in a style that honors or appreciates that of another work, artist or period. This is a self-conscious imitation. A clear example of this is 'Material Girl' by Madonna, which pays tribute to Marilyn Monroe, in pastiche to the film 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'. 

• Bricolage - Mixing up different styles and genres. An example of this, used in film is the 2013 film 'Scary Movie 5' which is dubbed as a horror film, which features a comedic side to the narrative. Other bricolages include Romantic Drama, Animated Adventure and Comedy Thriller.

• Homage - Imitation from a respectful standpoint. 

A clear example of 'homage' being present is in the music video for 'I Found U'by The Wanted, where they pay tribute to The Beatles. They took their inspiration from The Beatles famous performance on 'The Ed Sullivan Show', where they geared themselves up in slick suits, retro guitars, playing to an audience of screaming fans. 

2 Examples of Post-modern music videos:

A great example of a post-modern music video is 'They Come to Get Us' by The Death Set. The music video incorporates intertextuality of several characters e.g. Batman and Superman, as well as an approache of pastiche in the setting. The setting is the same as the famous scene shown in the film for 'Back To The Future'. The music video pays homage to the film, in addition, appealing to the target audience of the film. No parody is used in the music video.

Another example of a post-modern music video is Peter Kay's Animated All-Star Band with 'The Official BBC Children in Need Medley'. The music video features intertextual references of past and present children's TV characters e.g. The Wombles, Paddington Bear and Bob The Builder etc. The music video uses bricolage from other artists to make a collection of classic songs e.g. 'Don't Stop' Fleetwood Mac (rock) and 'Can You Feel It?' The Jackson 5 (Disco).  

 

   

'You are.....a Cinema' Lyric Analysis

Here I've analysed the lyrics for 'Benny Benassi ft Gary Go - Cinema'. I have wrote a meaning regarding each 2 lines of the song (written in red). 
   My ideas for how I may film each lyric is written in orange, for example, the lyric: 'Hope you don't stop running', I can apply Andrew Goodwin's theory here, where he states that the lyrics match the visuals. 
   The pace of the footage I will edit for the chorus and bridge in particular is written in blue, so this tells me where I can use effective editing and at what pace will each shot cut.
   Finally, in purple writing, states a particular narrative to the story, where I present my music video in a chronological manner. For my music video for 'Cinema', I will use a chronological order for the ages of film, starting with the days of Fred Astaire and Ginger Roberts and ending with the present day of Brad Pitt and Simon Pegg. 

'You are.....a Cinema' Treatment

The video opens with this shot (above) which signals the start of a trailer of a movie, which then cuts to the main artist looking up to the camera, standing in front of the green screen. This then cuts to the main artist in 2 other locations, before the song's beat kicks in. When the song's beat kicks in, we see the 1st intertextual reference of the heel-tapping of the red shoes (Wizard of Oz) to the sound of the beat. The song then cross-cuts to different locations in the 1st Verse, also making it's 2nd intertextual reference of the 1931 film 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'. 
   As the chorus approaches, the editing becomes quicker and more cross-cutting to different locations are used. The 2nd verse and the 2nd chorus will use more intertextual references, such as 'Titanic' and 'Billy Elliot' as well as the locations from the previous verse.
   The bridge will then show signs of slower editing, as well as another 2 intertextual references from the films 'Phone Booth' and 'Vampire's Kiss' (the famous 'You Don't Say' scene). The final chorus will then feature all of the intertextual references, as well as all of the other shots of the main artist.
   The video ends with the title of the film and the credits, showing that the music video has been made into a trailer. 

Audience Feedback to my Pitch

After presenting my pitch to the rest of the peers in my class, I have been given good feedback and some other ideas to include in the construction of my music video.
These include:

- Not heavily based on lip-syncing.
- 1st Person.
- Sporting activities to coincide with music.
- POV shots.
- Use of black and white.
- Use wigs and not the whole look of the characters.
- Use of famous film couples portrayed.
- Needs to have a visual reference.
- Chronology in a film. Going through the ages.
- Loads of shots looking at her? Voyeurism.

I believe I can incorporate all these ideas when it comes to filming my music video. This way I can make this video an effective piece of work.

'You are...a Cinema' Planning

For my construction work, I have chosen to do the song 'Cinema' by Benny Benassi and Gary Go. In this blog post, I am going to post my moodboard and also give a brief description of what my music video will entail.

Music Video Pitch and Inspirations:

Frame-by-frame Remake: Final Cut and Evaluation

EVALUATION

For my 'frame-by-frame' remake practical, me and Billy replicate the music video for the song 'Don't Go' by Wretch 32 and Josh Kumra. This was the first time we had to copy someone else's video to identify the way music videos are produced. Having only 2 hours to film, we could only remake about a minute of the music video and we thought the most effective part of the music video is the first verse, leading into the hook of the song. 

What have you learnt about music video production from completing this task?

I have learnt, from this task, that music video construction is not as easy as it seems. You are given a fixed amount of time to do as many shots as you possibly can to edit your piece. What I found hard the most was the matching up of the visuals and the song lyrics. I had to place each clip next to the lyric of which it matches, so it looks like we're singing the song etc.

    I also found out that the more locations used, the better. If you're just standing in the room, lip-syncing the whole song, it would be very boring. 

    Overall, I found the task very enjoyable, even though these difficulties got in my way.

How will this affect the planning of your own work?

Considering we only had 2 hours to film the music video, we only had to lip-sync in one location and we only did it once, allowing time to film other shots. For my big piece, I would need to allow time to plan where I will lip-sync and where I will perform (my music video will be performance based). 

    We had limited time to decide on what the costume will look like and where we would film our shots. We would only have one choice: 

This place:

For my big piece, I will use locations in both inside and outside of college (the majority of the task, outside of college). This way, as well as the other features, will form together to make my next piece a bigger, more effective piece, so my peers and other audience would find the constructive piece 'outstanding'.

Frame-by-Frame Remake: Pre-Production

This is the shot sequence for the video for 'Don't Go' by Wretch 32 ft Josh Kumra. We chose this because it was set in a versatile location and this is what me and Billy will re-inact in our own frame-by-frame remake. Altogether, there are 25 different shots of the video we will be filming. 

Here goes:

1) 'Yeah, when I got introduced to you.' 
MS of the main artist. 2.5 seconds long.
Zoom in a little bit.
Camera handheld, not on tripod.
Filming by Sixth Form building.

2) 'I knew...'
Low-angle shot of Circle. 1.5 seconds long.
Camera handheld.
Filming in the Common Room 

3) 'I'd be true to you, Everyone wanted a piece, you whispered to me sweet guys like me you love, And I feel it in my soul.'
MS and Dolly shot of the main artist. 8 seconds long.
Camera handheld.
Filming by Sixth Form building.

4) 'It's like you're always with me on the road.'
CU of the girl's face. 2 seconds long.
Zoom out slightly.
Camera on Tripod.
Filming in front of whiteboard.

5) 'Phone in my hand while I listen to you moan, And every...'
MS of the main artist. 2.5 seconds long.
Camera handheld.
Filming by Sixth Form building.

6) '...body in the car wants to try and get involved.'
MS of the main artist walking past a group of people. 2.5 seconds long.
Camera handheld.
Filming on bridge, from the sixth form centre to canteen.

7) 'Yeah, then you make a silly tone.' 
Slow motion. MS of the girl sitting down. 2.5 seconds long.
Camera on Tripod.
Filming in front of whiteboard. Drawn 'Wings' on whiteboard.


8) 'Puppy love, I'm like give a dog a bone.' 
LS of another girl walking towards the camera. Only shows top half of her body. 2.5 seconds long.
Earthquake effect on Final Cut Pro.
Filming on the grounds of University Campus.
                                                      Camera on Tripod.

9) 'Shut me how I can breathe when I'm a frown.' 
MS of the main artist. 2.5 seconds long.
Camera handheld.
Filming by Sixth Form building.

10) 'Our loves concrete, We should lead a setting stone.'
LS of a girl sitting down in front of wall. 2 seconds long.
Camera on Tripod.
Filming in front of whiteboard. Drawn 'Wings' on whiteboard.

11) 'Yeah and whenever I'm in doubt.'
Establishing/long shot of the backing artist walking down empty path. 2.25 seconds long.
Camera on Tripod.
Filming on bridge, from the sixth form to the canteen.

12) 'You forever calm me down.'
MS of the main artist. 2.5 seconds long.
Camera handheld.
Filming by Sixth From building.

13) 'And some...'
LS of another girl sitting down. 1.5 seconds long.
Camera on Tripod.
Earthquake effect on Final Cut Pro.
Filming on the grounds of University Campus.

14) '...times I'm a dummy and I...'
LS and high-angle shot of the main artist sat on steps. 1 second long.
Camera on Tripod.
Filming on steps at University Campus.


15) '...know I would of crashed if you...'
MCU of the main artist. 1.5 seconds long.
Camera handheld.
Filming by Sixth Form building.


16) '...never was around. So don't go.'
CU of finger touch opposite finger. 2 seconds long.
Camera on Tripod.
Filming anywhere possible.
Side-to-side effect on Final Cut Pro.

17) 'Don't leave.'
MS and High-angle of the backing artist. 2 seconds long.
Camera handheld.
Filming on bridge, from the sixth form to the canteen.



18) 'Please...'
CU and zoom out of a woman (side of her face facing the camera). 2 seconds long.
Camera on Tripod
Filming in front of whiteboard. Drawn 'Sun Rays' on whiteboard.

19) '...Stay with...'
MS and zoom in of another woman. 2 seconds long.
Camera on Tripod.
Filming in front of whiteboard. Drawn 'Umbrella and Rain' on whiteboard.

20) '...Me, You are...'
MS and high-angle of the backing artist. 2.5 seconds long.
Camera handheld.
Filming on bridge, from the sixth form to the canteen.



21) '...The only thing...'
MS and dolly shot of the main artist. 1.5 seconds long.
Camera handheld.
Filming by Sixth Form building.



22) '...I need to get...'
MS and zoom out of a woman (side of her face facing the camera). 2 seconds long.
Camera on Tripod.
Filming in front of whiteboard. Drawn 'Sun Rays' on whiteboard.



23) '...By...'
CU of fingers letting go of puddle. 1.5 seconds long.
Camera on Tripod.
Side-to-side effect on Final Cut Pro.
                                                      Filming anywhere possible.

24) '...To get by.'
MS and high-angle of the backing artist. 2 seconds long.
Camera handheld.
Filming on bridge, from the sixth form and canteen.

25) No Lyrics.
MCU and zoom in of another woman. 1.5 seconds long.
Camera on Tripod.
Filming in front of whiteboard. Drawn 'Umbrella' on whiteboard.


Total time of clip: 55 - 60 seconds long


Shooting/Editing Schedule:

 

The document shown above is the shooting schedule that I have constructed. This gives an idea of where, when and how we will be filming for our frame-by-frame remake of 'Don't Go' by Wretch 32 and Josh Kumra. I have chosen to film in the morning because this is similar to the time the Wretch 32 music video was filmed, therefore if it was filmed in the dark, it wouldn't match the aspects of a frame-by-frame remake.
   Our schedule, however, runs of only 2 days because these are the days of which the camcorder is issued to us and also the amount of work we need to complete in the future. It is important that the filming needs to be completed on day 1, to allow a good time to edit the footage and to distinctively complete a frame-by-frame remake to high standards.